For an ILO official in Brazil, the tragedy of the Vale SA mining company in Brumadinho could be the country's largest accident-related accident

"They have to take legal action, which badyzes the role of the management of the mining company Vale SA in this tragedy," he said in an interview. Vinicius Pinheiro with the Time, Special Representative for the country and Deputy Director of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The specialist said that Brazilian law provides for prison sentences for offenders such as Brumadinho, in Minas Gerais. "This is perhaps the country's biggest work accident – in addition to the environmental and human damages – the country's culture of prevention and control is lacking," he said.

Thus, the tragic rupture of one of the waste dams of the Vale SA mining company, in Brumadinho (MG), is on the verge of becoming the country's biggest work accident. Until the moment, The Civil Defense reported 121 dead and 266 missing. 192 saved and 108 evacuees, and enter the ninth day of the search. Friday, January 25 was the day of the tragedy and many missing people were working there.

According to Vinicius Pinheiro, ILO Special Representative, There are at least 600 million occupational accidents a year worldwide, with 2.3 million deaths and a loss of 2.8 billion dollars.

To change this picture, the specialist says that it is necessary to build a prevention culture. "The best workplace accident policy is one that does not prevent an accident at work, and prevention requires investments in education, technology, labor, and safety. in institutions that can carry out the audit, "said the dialogue with Epoca, the O Globo network.

The Brumadinho dike model is not used in all Brazilian mines. According to the National Water Agency, 204 of the country's 790 mining dams pose high risks for both human life and the environment.

From the point of view of work, how do you evaluate the tragedy of Brumadinho?

It was an environmental tragedy, a human tragedy, but also a labor tragedy, because a large proportion of the victims are representatives of society and most of them were working in their work environment. It is important to carry out investigations both from the point of view of employment and the legislation governing industrial accidents, both from the penal and the environmental point of view.

Do you believe that the current address of the Vale should be removed?

I do not have how to evaluate what action should be taken in relation to the address of the valley at this time. Of course, there must be collective action badyzing the criminal and penal aspects of management.

Given the scale of the accident, what should be the penalties imposed on Vale and those responsible?

Brazilian legislation, which has recently changed in this case, provides for a prison sentence. It's at least a year in prison. Now the aggravating factors have to be badessed, given the size of the tragedy.

Every year, Brazil records 700,000 accidents at work. Why is this number so high?

Statistics on workplace accidents are really worrying. Worldwide, 2.3 million people die as a result of work-related accidents. And the number of reported work-related accidents rises to 600 million. This generates a human and environmental cost in the case of Brumadinho, but also an economic cost of about 2.8 billion dollars in the world.

This is equivalent to world GDP. This cost refers to hours not worked, compensation costs, health expenses.

For this huge incidence of workplace accidents, prevention is essential.

In the case of Brumadinho, the prevention was to check the condition of the dam, to determine if there were contingency plans, to see how it might affect the workers. There could be signaling mechanisms.

Officials may answer criminally, but it is obviously too early to draw conclusions, as investigations are still ongoing.

Do you think that the extinction of the Ministry of Labor can increase the number of accidents?

This is hard to say for the moment, as it depends on how the labor inspectorate will act, which will be directed to another body. At first, there is no reason to think that there will be less control over the job simply because it has been transferred from one body to another. These observations must be made and accompanied in the coming months.

How to improve the monitoring of the work environment avoiding possible accidents?

The audit can be improved mainly in the educational part. The issue of creating a work-related injury culture is an issue that affects not only business leaders, but also employers, consumers and citizens in general.

It is therefore essential that people know that on a construction site, workers must be protected with a helmet, gloves and hearing protection. Another way is also to use technology. With technological advances, such as the use of UAVs and the use of the Internet of Things, it is possible to monitor the work environment more efficiently and prevent that such accidents do not occur.

According to the O Globo newspaper, there is a dam break every two years in Brazil. Is there a lack of control?

Certainly this concerns the audit, which is a preventative policy aimed at preventing an accident from occurring.

The mining company Samarco has not yet paid a fine to Ibama for the tragedy of Mariana. Why in Brazil is it difficult for companies to support compensation costs?
Companies that work seriously usually have a plan of urgency. In risk badysis, it is essential to establish a contingency fund for such situations. With regard to Samarco, it is up to the Brazilian authorities to find the most reasonable way to raise this problem.

Source: By Matheus Rocha, for O Globo Network Times

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